Perspective
Spoke to Martin tonight, off for a spot of AJP trail-riding with him and my Irish Team Mate tomorrow. My Irish Team Mate has been having a bit of a nightmare with his bike - it has still not been delivered yet. Unperturbed, he is flying in from Dublin to Bristol in the morning, driving to Trowbridge, a day's trail riding and then back the same day. Now that's fit. Or keen. Or mad. Or some combination of the above. That's Dakar-level commitment, right there.
I also spoke to Jago (our 3rd team member) who has been doing some research on the whole thing. Apparently ASO are providing all of the fuel for the 2008 Dakar (which is a new development - you used to have to provide your own) and - significantly - all entries are now 'assessment based on merit' (whatever that means).
Exactly how this pans out in the real world is a question for Patsy Quick when we get to Morocco - one of the reasons for going in the first place is to find out all of the this stuff. I don't really know why I think this, but I just know it's not going to be a problem. I know I am going to Dakar and I'm really not that worried about the detail and the hurdles and the beaureacracy. I just know.
Jago had some interesting questions about sponsorship and thought that my angle of "I am bi-polar, not a pro rider, not a factory rider, just an ordinary guy doing extra-ordinary things" was quite novel and, in a strange way, quite appealing. Him and Missus Jago are popping in on Sunday so we can all kind of figure out what to do next and how best to marshall our efforts.
So I think there was a bit of a turning point today. I'm not sure how, or why, and it's most likely just that my own perception of things shifted a little. I was less hostile, and saw a lot less hostility in return. It's all about perspective.
I used to commute every week on the train fro Edinburgh to London. Down on a Monday morning on the 6am red-eye, back on a Friday night. Lots of fun.
The train was an InterCity 225 - an electric-powered job with a locomotive at the front and the rear. Only one of these was operational at a time, so the train was either being pulled from the from or pushed by the rear.
One time, the train broke down about an hour out of Edinburgh. The guard came on the tannoy and announced that there was a problem with the front engine and that we would be hooking up power to the rear one so we'd be on our way shortly. Sure enough, we were back on our way shortly after about a half-hour delay.
A short time later, the train ground to a halt again. The guard came on the tannoy again and announced:
I also spoke to Jago (our 3rd team member) who has been doing some research on the whole thing. Apparently ASO are providing all of the fuel for the 2008 Dakar (which is a new development - you used to have to provide your own) and - significantly - all entries are now 'assessment based on merit' (whatever that means).
Exactly how this pans out in the real world is a question for Patsy Quick when we get to Morocco - one of the reasons for going in the first place is to find out all of the this stuff. I don't really know why I think this, but I just know it's not going to be a problem. I know I am going to Dakar and I'm really not that worried about the detail and the hurdles and the beaureacracy. I just know.
Jago had some interesting questions about sponsorship and thought that my angle of "I am bi-polar, not a pro rider, not a factory rider, just an ordinary guy doing extra-ordinary things" was quite novel and, in a strange way, quite appealing. Him and Missus Jago are popping in on Sunday so we can all kind of figure out what to do next and how best to marshall our efforts.
So I think there was a bit of a turning point today. I'm not sure how, or why, and it's most likely just that my own perception of things shifted a little. I was less hostile, and saw a lot less hostility in return. It's all about perspective.
I used to commute every week on the train fro Edinburgh to London. Down on a Monday morning on the 6am red-eye, back on a Friday night. Lots of fun.
The train was an InterCity 225 - an electric-powered job with a locomotive at the front and the rear. Only one of these was operational at a time, so the train was either being pulled from the from or pushed by the rear.
One time, the train broke down about an hour out of Edinburgh. The guard came on the tannoy and announced that there was a problem with the front engine and that we would be hooking up power to the rear one so we'd be on our way shortly. Sure enough, we were back on our way shortly after about a half-hour delay.
A short time later, the train ground to a halt again. The guard came on the tannoy again and announced:
- "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the second engine has also failed. The good news is that this is not a Boeing 737".
Download the Manic Mission Information Pack for the full story ...
posted by 2009 Dakar at
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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